The present invention is directed to an agitator device for charging gas into fluid or flowable polyurethane components (PUR-components) for the production of a mixture of polyol (polyhydroxy alcohol) and isocyanate and for the homogenization of the mixture to form a foamed plastics material and the device includes a driven rotatable hollow stirrer located in a pressure vessel containing the PUR-component, such as polyol, with the stirrer including stirring elements which may be hollow and provided with gas exit openings located within the mixture and being in communication with a source of pressurized gas.
A process for the automatic charging of gas into PUR-components is known from the European patent document No. A 0 110 244 and from DEZ "Plastics", year 74 (1984), Brochure 11,pages 659 and 660 where the charging is effected by an agitator device of the species conforming type. In this process nitrogen or dried air is, as a rule, utilized as the gas.
It is possible in the known process that only extremely small gas particles are mixed into the PUR-component at the sharp edges of the device though a high gas transport and a rapid gas charging takes place. It has been found, however, with this known process and employing the known agitator device, that optimum homogenization of the fluid PUR-component cannot be assured.